On March 23, 2011, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Turner v. Rogers – a case squarely addressing whether an indigent person can be jailed on civil contempt without being given a lawyer to represent him. Michael Turner served a year in prison when he was held in contempt by a South Carolina court for failing to timely pay child support, but he had to represent himself in court and had no lawyer to represent him.

The United States Supreme Court has been asked to hear a case squarely addressing whether an indigent person can be jailed on civil contempt, without being given a lawyer to represent him. In Turner v. Rogers, Michael Turner served a year in prison when he was held in contempt by a South Carolina court for failing to timely pay child support, but he had to represent himself in court and had no lawyer to represent him. "The South Carolina Supreme Court ruled the sentence was coercive, rather than punitive, and Turner had no right to a lawyer," explains the ABA Journal.

On June 2, 2010, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford signed into law a sweeping sentencing reform bill that his press release states will “reverse the trend toward incarcerating non-violent criminals who pose little or no risk to the public, discourage recidivism by providing inmates with a more closely supervised transition to society once their sentences have been served, and at the same time save taxpayers more than $400 million over the next five years.”

T. Patton Adams has been the Executive Director of the SC Commission on Indigent Defense since January, 2005. A native of Columbia and a 1968 graduate of the University of South Carolina School of Law, he maintained an active private law practice in Columbia for over 28 years. Prior to joining the agency Mr.